Explaining physical violence against hospital emergency wards' personnel: The Israeli case

Abstract

Violence against medical and non­medical personnel was analyzed in a large­scale project, conducted in the emergency wards of all 25 general hospitals in Israel. The main data collection method was a self­report questionnaire administered to all emergency ward personnel (N=2,356). In addition to the General Violence Index (GVI) a Physical Violence Index (PVI) was constructed (Cronbach's Alpha=.877), based on the participants' reports about the type and frequency of physical violence they have experienced during the preceding year (2001­2002). The multiple regression analysis for explaining the PVI was comprised of 15 independent variables divided into three main groups (as in the GVI model): I. Professional characteristics of participant: position, weekly workload, tenure in dept., additional responsibilities, perceived ability to cope with violence, taking part in a workshop for coping with violence; II. Participant's socio­demographic characteristics; country of origin, gender, age, religion; and III. Hospital's structural features: size of hospital, entrance permission for accompanying person(s), availability of an emergency button. Only two thirds of the variables (10) have significantly contributed to the explanation of the PVI, jointly explaining 56% of the variance (R2=.562). The major factors explaining physical violence against hospital emergency wards personnel will be presented and comparisons will be made between the two measures of violence (GVI and PVI). The implications of the finding to dealing with physical violence in this setting will be discussed.